Security decline in Northern Nigeria

December 5, 2012 : Uche Igwe (ucheigwe@gmail.com)

Uche Igwe

I have been travelling around Northern Nigeria in the past five days. My trip took me to Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto and then Minna. It gave me an opportunity to assess the extent of damage that has occurred in these cities since the security situation started to deteriorate. As we drove past, one thing was obvious, both natives and visitors have started leaving the region in droves and these cities will soon turn to deserts. The case of Kano was particularly pathetic. I visited the city last about 10 years ago and it was bubbling both at night and day time. With a population of over 15 million, Kano, alongside Lagos, is the largest city in Nigeria and has long been the centre of crafts, production, agricultural export and other economic activities in Northern Nigeria and other neighbouring countries such as Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Mali and Burkina Faso, just to name a few.

Kano has long been involved in the export of groundnuts, sesame and gum arabic, hide and skin provided by small-scale businesses and peasant farmers. Kwari market which is strategically located in the heart of the city is well-known for its textile serving the entire northern region as well as other neighbouring countries, thus encouraging import of such goods from places such as China, Dubai, Saudi Arabia. This makes it serve as a transport hub for all sorts of imported materials from all over the world. That, unfortunately, is no longer the case.

We arrived the town around 10pm and it was very tough to find a place to eat. In Kaduna, the presence of the military delayed the scanty traffic and we were very exhausted when we got to our hotel. To our amazement, we were forced to buy a plate of indomie noodles for N2,000 for fear of going out in the night. All through our trip, the climate of fear hung in the atmosphere and citizens went around their business without knowing what would happen next. I saw large acres of land lie fallow. I saw great potential in Northern Nigeria both for agriculture, commerce and tourism.

However, this potential may not be realised due to heightening insecurity. It is worrisome that many political and religious leaders from the north have yet to realise that the economy of northern Nigeria is gradually grinding to a halt. There is this misguided perception among political leaders in Nigeria that the only source of revenue is through the sharing of oil revenue. Nothing can be more misleading. The northern Nigeria I saw can become a source of quantum revenue that can sustainably complement the earnings from oil. We were told of the groundnut pyramid, the abundance of hides and skin, sesame seeds, gun arabic, dogoyanro products, cotton and even precious minerals. It should deliberately refocus the economy of Northern Nigeria, to tap into opportunities provided by these natural resources to generate employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth population. Looking around the north, the issue of unemployment can no longer be overlooked. This is partly the role of government, but also the role of the private sector. Northern Nigeria has produced very many prominent and well-to-do Nigerian citizens. Why are they not investing in the region? Why do they prefer to take their wealth to invest in other countries to create employment for citizens in those countries? They must rise to complement the efforts of government in harnessing employment opportunities for our younger brothers and sisters currently roaming the streets. These young ones are those that provide fertile minds for quick recruitment into criminality and religious extremism.

It is simplistic to reduce the current crisis in northern Nigeria to a religious or even political one. It is a developmental crisis that arose from a paradigm that neglected the interest of the poor for so long. The solution lies partially in the public domain but mostly in pragmatic developmental reengineering of the north. Northern leaders have to take up this task before it is too late. Oil is a non-renewable resource that will run out one day. The north will benefit greatly if it can begin to strategise about diversifying its economy to make it less dependent from handouts from Abuja. Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Minna among others are potential economic hubs which can provide real economic opportunities that will benefit the region and the nation at large. It is time to rethink.

LET IT CONTINUE TO DECLINE. MORE SUFFERING FOR THOSE LOW LIFE CATTLE REARER AND GWORO CHEWING B*ASTARDS IN THAT CURSED LAND.

Gab

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Magaji

@red label u are pure animal.xtian pagan.

Magaji

@red label.u are pig.

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Tee jay

To me education is the best legacy? Northern hostage had ruin their community due to lack of education in recent time,whereas it is too late to be amended,it is only God almighty that shall rescue them from they caused to their community,other zone in Nigeria should learn lesson form the northern

Deji

Bullshit the situation in the North is a mixture of both the political and religious. A lot of people try to delude themselves and others by trying a pseudo sophisticated analysis. If the game plan is to have a rehab program like that of the militants in the Niger Delta e no go work. The militants had the capability of shutting down the economy of Nigeria, Boko Haram only has the capability of fragmenting Nigeria. If parents produce off spring and send them out as alimajiri and others beg and borrow money to send theirs to school whose fault. I beg make e scatter

Mr president

AND HOW ON EARTH DO YOU EXPECT TO REALISE THIS PIPE DREAM,THOSE DAYS ARE OVER,WELCOME TO THE NEW NIGERIA.

P r o p h e t__M o h a m m e d__is__a__D e c e i v e r

What you do you expect from uncircumcised & illiterate mallam who sees nothing good in western education.

sendoff

the federal govt is not helping by sponsoring almajiri (Madrasa) education in the North. Ignorance of the masses is fertilizer for feudalism which, frankly, is the real problem of northern Nigeria.

OkeyMbang

This is a well written article. Congratulations Uche. It is important for us to begin to see the interconnectedness of the political, social, economic and religious in the public and private domain of our national life. Crisis in one area of our national life affects other areas as well. Religion should not continue to cripple the nation. Our political class must rethink and truly love this country if things are to improve. Nigeria is hated by those entrusted with the responibility of managing it. And the teeming talented Nigerians who suffer fold their hands and blame their God instead of holding the politicans responsible. Look at Egypt, the president had to leave the presidential palace temporarily because the people say enough is enough. Nigerians must rise up against the political class and take back their country only in this way will things change.

Bala

Please we should not pay any attention to people like red label,its better to ignore such ignorant and hate driven people. Back to the article, the writer has not fully addressed the whole situation. In fact you can’t speak about thhe detrioration of the north with out mentioned Yobe and Borno states. Well Yobe is probably not woth mentioning when it comes to financial activities within the region, Borno however, is a shadow of her former self, thhis is a region that once thrived with trade from Chad, Niger, and Cameroun but has now all but ground to a halt. The sufffering of people in both regions is untold, as their lleaders wallow in wealth in Abuja.
I hope the writer has not deliberately left the region out, and it must be stated that the level of suffering and economic collapse in the regions he has mentioned is not even a half of what has happened and continues to happen in the north east of nigeria.

Columnists

"Mr Orubebe, you are former minister of the Federal Republic, you are a statesman in your own right and you must be careful about what you say and about the allegations or accusations that you make and certainly you must be careful about your public conducts."

INEC's Chairman, Attairu Jega cautioning Orubebe over his conduct during the release of the Presidential election results.